Dangers of an Epidemic
by Experimental.Thinking
Summary: Zexion has issues with Twilight and the fact that Axel, whom he likes very muchly, loves it. Until he meets Demyx, that is.


**Dangers Of An Epidemic**

There were many issues in Zexion's life that his councillor considered to be wastes of time. Issues like how much of a loner he was, how he'd never get a date and how short he was. One of these issues, however was fairly major, and it was the latest, infectious disease called Twilight. Another issue was the cocky, top-dog of year ten who went by the name of Axel. But Zexion never, ever addressed the latter issue with his councillor, instead just bitched about how Twilight had become way too popular for its own good.

"I mean, really, it wasn't that great a book! Sure it was something light and brainless to read when you have nothing better to do but come on! The vampires aren't even proper vampires, they're pussies! I mean, everyone knows that vampires don't fucking sparkle, that's just stupid! And all Bella talks about is how hot and charming Edward is, and then runs off with his enemy, Jacob! What kind of love is that?! I mean—

"Zexion… I think we should leave it there for today… You obviously have some deep issues with a popular book and I'm not sure if I can even help you out – here, I'll give you some details of a colleague of mine, he's really good. Helped me out with some things too,"

Zexion grittily took the business card of some therapist in town out of the councillor's hand and left the room haughtily. He knew it was stupid to be so worked up about a stupid book, but he just could not see the logic behind how popular it had become. It, like his mother's new boyfriend, just appeared out of nowhere and was inescapably everywhere. Everywhere Zexion looked it was Twilight, Twilight, John, Twilight, Twilight, Twilight AND John, John reading Twilight, Twilight in John's hand, John watching Zexion, John following Zexion, John telling Zexion about Twilight, Twilight, Twilight, fucking Twilight!

So yes, Zexion was losing his grip on reality. Especially considering Axel was one of them. The one guy he'd hoped and prayed to God wouldn't get sucked into the disease was officially doomed. Was there no God? Even if there was, they hated Zexion. There were countless times Zexion contemplated whether being openly anti-Twilight was, indeed, a waste of time or not. Possibly, seeing as there was no way in hell he was ever going to win. There was just no talking sense into some of these people.

Dejectedly, Zexion sighed and plodded off to the table he sat on his lonesome at lunch time. As per tradition, he opened up his lunchbox, took one look at the sandwich and turned to make a seagull's day. He then buried his head into his arms and shut his eyes and tried to pretend he wasn't really there.

His secure oblivion was soon penetrated by a bunch of loud and inconsiderate voices babbling on about that much hated subject as they walked past. Zexion lifted his head to scowl at the Twilight addicts and shout,

"Oh will you shut up?!"

One of them whipped around in a flurry of red spikes to give Zexion that amused pout he was powerless to.

"What's that, Zexy?" the redhead purred,

"…Shut up…" Zexion felt himself go red as he usually did in Axel's presence. There was just something about the way Axel talked to him that made Zexion feel like his little bitch. Sometimes, when Axel was particularly seductive, Zexion could just picture a collar around his own throat, getting tighter and tighter.

"Why?" Axel demanded in that sickly sweet voice,

"Because… nothing, never mind," Zexion stared at his lap, avoiding Axel's brilliant turquoise eyes.

"No, I'm interested, Zexion, what was I saying that made you burst out like that? Did I make you upset, my dear?" Axel sounded amused, knowing just how much of an effect he made on not only Zexion but plenty of others too. Zexion, on the other hand, could feel that bitch collar tightening around his neck.

"It's nothing… never mind…"

"Go on," he was now sitting beside Zexion, a hand placed on his thigh. He squeezed teasingly and Zexion squirmed at the playful touch.

"I just don't like Twilight…" he murmured into the table,

"What? Twilight?" Axel's amused voice was now coated in scorn, "How can you not?"

"It's… stupid…"

"_How?" _

"Never mind," Zexion snapped suddenly. Axel chuckled and leant in to whisper seductively in Zexion's ear,

"Do I _dazzle_ you?"

Zexion was silent. His heart was going through a whole gymnastic routine, he was that flustered, and when Axel began to stroke his thigh slowly with his fingertips, Zexion had to stop himself from rolling over and playing dead.

…

On the way home, Zexion was beyond furious at himself for looking like such an idiot in front of Axel. He was sure Axel knew about how Zexion felt about him and, of course, only Axel would find it amusing more than weird and use it to his advantage. Feeling like he was treading floods, Zexion turned the corner of his street to see a big, ugly mover's van in next door's driveway. He stopped abruptly to stare at the big, bearded men carting furniture into the old, previously abandoned house. Curious as to what he should expect from his new neighbours, Zexion went closer, only to be confronted by a blue-eyed kid with a sandy blonde faux-hawk.

"Hi!" the kid grinned, "I'm Demyx, I'm sixteen, are you my neighbour? No I don't have ADHD, hey, your hair's blue! I like it! Wanna be friends?!"

Zexion instantly regretted ever going near the neighbour's house. However, he did try and force a smile, which appeared to have made Demyx's day as he beamed.

"I'm Zexion, and yeah, I'm sixteen too… and yes, I'm your neighbour, I live in that house there – are you sure you don't have ADHD?"

"Oh, that's a nice house! I like the French shutters. Yes, I was tested and everything, I'm just a naturally happy person! But you don't seem to be, what's wrong, Zexion?"

Zexion took one, hesitant step away from the overly hyper kid in front of him. He couldn't help but keep the label 'kid' for him, as he wasn't much more mature than a twelve year old anyway. But then the way Demyx looked at Zexion with pure concern for him sparked something inside him and immediately, Zexion wanted to tell Demyx everything.

"Oh it's uh… nothing really," he began, testing Demyx to see if he was truly concerned. When the sparkly blue eyes continued to bore into Zexion's mind, he sighed and continued. "Just a bad day at school really—

"Aw! That's not good! Tell me more, I'll listen to you," Demyx said matter-of-factly, patting Zexion's shoulder,

"Uh, well I guess just at my school there's this really bad Twilight epidemic—

"TWILIGHT?! I _hate _that piece of—

"Did you just say… you hated it?"

"Yeah, why… you're not a _fan_ are you?"

"Have my babies, Demyx, have lots and lots of my babies!" Zexion was thrilled. Finally, someone with a brain!

"Sure, why not?" Demyx smiled jokingly, glad that he wasn't the only one against Twilight. "So there's an epidemic at your school?"

"Yes… and there's this person I sort of like and—

"They're a fan?"

"Yes."

"Geez, man. That's gotta suck," Demyx said with a seriousness to his voice. Maybe this new kid wasn't so bad after all.

…

It was Sunday and Zexion was pulling the mail out from his rusted and much abused mailbox. After a few good tugs he finally freed the lumpy, rolled up newspapers and gave the mailbox a good kick for being so difficult. All the while, Demyx observed this, waiting until Zexion had finished scanning through the junk mail to talk to him.

"Good morning, Zexion!" Demyx called, making his way across Zexion's front lawn. Zexion glanced up to register Demyx's approaching figure. At first, Zexion had to try and remember the damned kid's name, let along try to look happy to see him.

"Good morning… you…" he forced a smile.

"You okay? You look sad,"

"Always like this,"

"Really? Why?"

"No reason," he had to laugh. There never was really a reason as to why he was so bitter. He just was.

"Well, just smile a little more and you'll feel better. Honest." Demyx grinned.

"Okay… You wanna come in? I was about to make breakfast…" Zexion felt this was the polite thing to do.

"I already ate, but sure," Demyx's smile broadened as he followed after the social disaster. He was lead into a quiet, neat little house which definitely suited Zexion's nature, unlike his own boisterous nature. Zexion had already positioned himself in the kitchen, pouring himself a bowl of cereal.

"So… apparently that New Moon movie's out," Demyx said in an attempt to strike up a conversation.

"I know," Zexion muttered, "Sucks,"

"Yeah, I saw something on the news last night that like heaps of people lined up before the cinemas were open in order to get first tickets or something,"

"Stupid…"

"Yeah. So you reckon that guy you like will be there?"

"Probably… hook up with a few fangirls while he's there," Zexion growled, knowing how true it was. Demyx silently crossed the room to hug Zexion awkwardly but sincerely. Zexion smiled to himself at the fact that someone actually cared about how he felt and wasn't just being paid to do so.

Before long, the boys found themselves spending all day together, talking about how much they hated Twilight, guys they could never have and evil stepparents. It turned out that Demyx had a stepmother who, like John, was inescapably everywhere. It also turned out that Demyx was going to attend Zexion's school and be in most of his classes.

…

Over the next few weeks, Zexion and Demyx were seen everywhere together, talking animatedly about anything and everything. They discovered that they'd had a lot in common. It was lunchtime and the two were talking about how badly they wished it would rain at that exact moment when they were joined by a third party.

"So, you guys like an item or something?" Axel's sickly sweet voice interrupted the two abruptly.

"No," Zexion replied, finding he wasn't going as hot and red as he would normally. His prime reason: he wasn't about to look like an ass in front of his only friend.

"Good, 'cause you're mine aren't you, Zexion?"

"Am I? Since when?"

"Since I wanted you as of now," Axel purred.

"Well. I'm not yours." Zexion, weirdly enough, didn't care. He hadn't cared in a while, and right now he just wanted Axel to leave so he could talk to Demyx, who shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Axel scrunched his face up like a spoilt child but said nothing, taking his leave dramatically and sighing heavily.

"Sorry,"

"No, it's okay. So that's Axel then?"

"Yeah,"

"Huh. He didn't seem to have _that _much power over you," Demyx noted.

"I guess I just don't really care anymore,"

"Good, 'cause the guy's full of it,"

"Guess so," Zexion laughed, and Demyx joined in. It felt good for Zexion to be able to laugh for once, genuinely laugh. Demyx had changed his world completely, making things all the more bright and positive. He still had his grudges against Twilight, but not really for the reason he first set out to hate it for. He didn't care whether Axel loved it or not, he didn't care about Axel at all. He merely just despised Twilight because it was just so annoyingly popular – which was one of his reasons anyway, but was now his primary reason.

Soon a bell went for the end of lunch and Demyx jumped up almost immediately. Zexion took his time gathering his belongings before sauntering up to Demyx's side. Demyx gave Zexion a warm smile as the two headed off to their math class. Zexion paused briefly, his mind temporarily blank. Something in Demyx's smile made his heart stop. It was different from his other smiles; it was a deeper smile, a sort of "I really like you" smile. But of course, Demyx couldn't like Zexion, could he?

Zexion had the image of Demyx's special smile in the back of his mind all through math and whenever he tried to find the answer to a problem, the image came up. _2 + 2x – 3 = that smile! _

"You okay?" Demyx asked him at one point. But Zexion didn't register anything, his head was clouded over. He was recalling all the times he'd actually seen that "I really like you" smile before. And upon thinking about it, a fair few times. And Demyx seemed to care so much, he always listened, gave positive feedback. And when he hugged him, it was extra long and extra _close. _

And that was when it dawned on him. He had developed a small liking for Demyx.

"Sure you're okay?" Demyx asked him as the two left the math classroom for English. Zexion, distant, only mumbled something vaguely coherent. He was too much in shock upon realising how much he liked Demyx, as in, _like _liked. He always thought he was a sucker for arrogant tools like Axel, not kind and sincere kids like Demyx. Not Demyx in general. He was just so young and innocent; Zexion hardly thought Demyx was at all appropriate "crush" material.

Zexion continued his zombie-like trance throughout the entirety of English and it wasn't until he was walking home with Demyx did he do something. And something dramatic at that.

Before the two had rounded the corner to turn into their street, Zexion grabbed a hold of Demyx and pushed him into the nearby bushes. Demyx made a startled cry, but was soon cut off by Zexion forcefully pushing his lips upon his mouth. Zexion held onto Demyx's shoulders as he balanced on his toes to kiss the blonde. Wide-eyed with shock, Demyx didn't know what to do except for what every other boy did when someone was kissing them. Kiss back. Zexion felt Demyx's lips soften and mould themselves to fit the shape of Zexion's and soon the two were working their mouths against each other's trying to pry the other open. Zexion, unsurely at first, started poking his tongue into Demyx's mouth, testing for his reaction, testing for his own reaction. That was where Demyx panicked and pulled away, leaving Zexion hanging.

"…Sorry," he mumbled, "I just—

"No! I'm sorry, I shouldn't have—

"No, like I mean, I was only—

"I really didn't mean to—

"Shut up," Demyx said and pressed his lips to Zexion, this time being the dominant one. Zexion felt himself go red hot as Demyx's hands caressed his body. Zexion had to throw his arms around Demyx's neck for support, stopping himself from collapsing from weakness in the knees. The two kissed and kissed for what seemed like eons and when the light had started fading, the two were still kissing. Zexion had never felt so much joy, compassion and lust all together in one in his small body. He felt like he was about to explode from the sheer delight of it all. It made him feel sick in the gut, queasy and uneasy. He was breathless, hot and flustered as he kept kissing the boy he never, ever thought to be the one he'd end up going heads-over-tails for. Axel was just a small memory now, and was nothing to him. Demyx was his entire world as of now.

"Demyx," Zexion said breathlessly when they parted, "I… I sort of… kind of… I like you,"

"I like you too," Demyx smiled,

"For real?"

"Yeah, I like you a lot," his smile matched the words he was speaking. Zexion grinned broader than ever before and for the first time in his life; he was okay and somewhat issue-free.

Except Twilight.


End file.
